"This is what the Lord says to Cyrus, His anointed one, whose right hand I take hold of…"— Isaiah 45:1
The Wait Between the Yes and the Go
Some mornings are too quiet.
Not peaceful—just... quiet in that heavy, uncertain way. The kind where even the birds don't bother singing, and the hum of the fridge feels like a sermon.
Amara sat on the edge of her bed, still in her pajamas, the scroll open beside her Bible. The sun spilled across her window, but her thoughts were stuck in the grey space between faith and confusion.
She had said "yes" to God.
Yes to being set apart.Yes to boldness.Yes to walking away from the platform that asked her to dilute her truth.
But what now?
Amara (thinking):"I obeyed… and it's quiet. No applause. No new doors. Just emails I had to say no to, and a lingering question—did I misunderstand?"
She didn't feel like a prophet. She didn't feel like a leader. Just a girl with an old scroll, some scribbled notes, and a whisper in her chest that wouldn't go away.
"There's a reason for the pattern. There's a calling in the chaos."
She didn't ask for this. Not the dreams. Not the burden. Not the fire in her bones.
And yet... here she was.
A Strange Kind of Anointing
The scroll's next section didn't feel majestic.
It felt strange.
There were no holy bloodlines, no priesthoods, no lineage from Abraham. Just one name.
"Cyrus."
A Persian king. A man outside the covenant. A man who worshipped other gods—until God chose him anyway.
Amara blinked at the text. Her pen froze mid-air.
Amara (whispering):"Wait… what?"
Scene: The Emperor in His Chamber
Cyrus stood on a marble balcony, overlooking his vast kingdom. Gold bands wrapped around his wrists, and a crown rested slightly crooked on his head. Not from arrogance—just fatigue.
He wasn't seeking God. He was running an empire.
But the voice came anyway.
Voice (deep and still):"I have called you by name, though you did not know Me."
Cyrus turned, startled. He searched the wind for reason, but found none.
Voice:"You will release My people. You will rebuild what others destroyed. You will do it for My name."
Cyrus scoffed.
Cyrus (to himself):"I don't serve this Hebrew god."
But his hands were already trembling. His heart burned with instruction he didn't understand.
Narration:"And so began the work of the unlikely king—the chosen outsider."
Amara's Realization
Amara leaned back against her wall, arms wrapped around her knees. The pieces clicked slowly, like a soft knock from heaven.
God used David—yes.He used Moses.But He also used Cyrus.A man from the outside. A man no one saw coming.
Amara (thinking):"What if I've been waiting to 'feel worthy'... and God's just waiting for me to obey, like Cyrus did?"
She looked around her small room.
No pulpit. No invitation. No crowd. Just a laptop. A voice. And a message.
Maybe calling didn't look like fire from heaven. Maybe it looked like showing up anyway.
Scene: The Decree
Cyrus gathered his scribes and stood before the people of Persia and Israel alike.
Cyrus:"The Lord, the God of heaven, has given me all the kingdoms of the earth, and has appointed me to build Him a house at Jerusalem…"
Gasps.
Some bowed. Others stared.
Scribe (whispers):"You follow their God now?"
Cyrus:"I follow the one who called me—even when I didn't know His name."
And with that, he released the captives. Just like that. No war. No blood. Just obedience.
Back to Amara
Amara sat up straighter.
Amara (softly):"He didn't need to be perfect. He just needed to be positioned."
Suddenly, her hesitation made sense. The weight she felt? It wasn't failure. It was the echo of obedience waiting to be born.
Maybe her voice didn't need a pulpit. Maybe her Instagram page, her words, her YouTube readings, her stillness—were her balcony.
Amara:"Okay, Lord. Use me. Even if I don't look like 'them.' Even if I feel unlikely."
Reflection: The Pattern in the Present
Cyrus lives today.
In the woman leading quietly from her desk.In the man rebuilding trust after addiction.In the mother raising kingdom minded children in a loud world.In the outsider God anoints to shift a generation.
"Calling doesn't wait for credentials. It waits for surrender."
Amara wrote it down. Circled it three times.
She would start small. Post the first scroll teaching. Share the patterns. Be bold about the warnings and hope. The world may not understand it at first.
But obedience has a way of making room for itself.
End of Chapter Line
"And so, through an outsider, God fulfilled His inside promise. For it is not man's approval that makes a king—it is God's uses the unexpected to fulfill his promise."